When we moved house to Howick; we were left with the daunting task of finding the “right” church. As a family, we attended various churches in the local area but none quite to our liking. We needed to feel a sense of belonging or at least comfortable. This became a tiring mission over the next few weeks until we came across ECW. We vividly remember we were instantly made welcomed by the many church members before, during and after that first church service. God had answered our prayers and we were pretty much “hooked” so to speak. We were made welcomed and it just felt right. Being brought up in a staunch “Methodist” upbringing back in Fiji; we felt we could easily relate and adapt to ECW and its teachings. This familiarity is basically one of the many reasons we happily attend and continue to be part of the ECW family.

We joined East City Wesleyan Church about seven years ago, primarily looking for a church with a Youth Group for our daughters, Emily and Hannah. All these years at ECW, we have enjoyed the worship and gained from the biblical based teaching with a practical emphasis for daily living. We are pleased to be part of a diverse, friendly and welcoming congregation. We are privileged to belong to a home group where we not only do in depth study of the Bible but also form great relationships with each other. We have been encouraged and blessed by the regular answers to prayers. ECW is a church where we, as a family, have found it easy to get involved in some of the ministry opportunities that are available to the congregation. 1 Corinthians 12:12- For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ.

We love being part of such a vibrant, welcoming church, with its strong mission to intentionally reach out to others with the love of Christ. We have both grown in faith through these past 15 years due to the strong bible-based leadership that ECW offers, and we commend the encouragement given to get involved in outreach activities. ECW has a very multi-cultural membership and caters for folks of all ages and these are aspects of congregational life that we enjoy hugely.

We wanted to be part of a local church where the fullness of God’s word is preached – where the three Persons of the Trinity are recognized and honoured; a church that is well led by the senior minister, supported by a good team. We like the fact that ECW covers the full span of age groups and that youth and children play a full part in the congregational life of the Church. The congregation is warm and friendly and the opportunity for small group fellowship and wider Church activities is appreciated.

Further, we like the fact that the Wesleyan Church actively supports other ministries, plants new churches and is international in scope and reach through its missionary support and as a part of the Wesleyan world-wide movement.

We became Christian’s in 2000 which was my second year in NZ, when we heard that God is creator, We think it’s more reliable than evolution as the universe, earth, human body is so accurate and complicated beyond our capability to research or imagine. We like ECW as they have love, and the vision to preach to Chinese for more than 15 years. Also it is a Bible focused multicultural church with a great senior pastor Richard and a strong team, full of love and fun!

When we first arrived from South Africa as a young married couple over 16 years ago, we were looking for a church that resembled what we had “back home”; solid bible teaching, welcoming fellowship community and a worship experience we could relate to. Finding that church was no easy task, but when we first visited ECW we knew this was a community we could one day call family. ECW was pivotal in helping us settle in NZ. 15 years on ECW continues to meet our needs in a church with a great youth group for our teenagers, Sunday morning programme for our younger two and a community that models what it means to be the body of Christ. We love the intergenerational emphasis and the many opportunities to get connected with others through serving roles or social groups.